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9 Steps To Developing A Successful Digital Transformation Strategy

Digital Transformation has come a long way from being a buzz word for SMEs to a highly focused and practical approach towards realising actual ROI. Multinationals and other big companies are already reaping the benefits from the newest digital solutions. However, from a bird’s eye view, these companies represent just the tip of the iceberg.

Small and medium business’ still need to understand the full potential of the available tools and techniques including social, mobile, analytics and cloud. More importantly,

Being a digital transformation strategist, I’m often approached by SMEs seeking help managing their digital transformation projects. What I’m about to share next will take SMEs to the next level of managing their digital projects more effectively on their own.

THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FRAMEWORK

I’ve spent a significant amount of time analysing digital developments that have been taking place across several industries over the last few years. This has helped me discover some common yet important elements that apply to all B2B and B2C markets.

Digital transformation is not possible if the entire organisation is not on the same page. Business owners need to communicate “why do they need to go digital and what will the digital future look like?” Hence this requires a buy-in from the top management and a consensus on digital business objectives across the organisation.

Only then they can develop an agile digital culture that favours innovation and adaptability.

Hence it all starts with a clear vision and a strategy on how the new business plan will enable digital transformation by integrating workforce, processes and technology. Remember, the ultimate goal is to achieve success not just for digital marketing professionals, but the entire organisation, improving the bottom line and delivering ROI.

The sole purpose of achieving digital transformation is to deliver an exceptional customer experience.

This can only be achieved if you understand your target market’s pain points. Listening to your target market and shaping your offerings according to their needs is the key to the success of any digital marketing strategy.

. You can align your campaigns with products and services by creating an appealing value proposition for your offering. Campaigns that focus on giving value in an engaging way are much more successful than hard-core selling!

Nonetheless, it must be done according to a strategy and with respect to the ultimate goals a business seeks.

Generally follow these four LEAD steps:

Leverage Customer Data – Understand what happened in the past to determine what works and what does not.

Engage in a way that matters – Explore the channels, create content and be available all the time.

Action Plan – Know why you are engaging, set posting schedule and review twice before you tweet and/or post.

Determine Results – How brand awareness and lead generation has increased because of meaningful two-way dialogue.

6. Website Be Responsive Presence

Your business website is your digital office as well as your digital store. It’s a place for your potential customers to meet you and lock a deal. This can be it in terms of signing up for a service or purchase of a product.

Why do I say that? A responsive website is important for more than one reason. Not only is it recommended by Google, but it also has the potential to increase conversions by providing a better user experience.

Targeting your audience on variables such as demographics, preferences, life styles and digital consumer behaviour.

Performing a research on the best platforms to pursue for your online business.

Identifying the ultimate value of your offering and building its relevance to your target market by way of story-telling.

8. Reach Via Social, Local, Mobile

With an implementation plan you are now ready to reach your target audience with a valuable and engaging message on the most relevant platforms. How? By going SoLoMo!

If by any chance you are still not familiar with the ubiquitous acronym, I’ll explain! SoLoMo stands for Social, Local, Mobile, combining the best of all worlds bringing social media, location based applications and mobile technology under one roof. The idea is to deliver a holistic digital experience by reaching customers through social media and location based targeting while on the go (through mobile).

For a start-up, the goal may be to increase brand awareness. A more established business might want to direct all its efforts towards turning prospective customers into leads. If you have made it this far, by now you know why I said that the first step is to focus on your digital business plan. Yes you guessed it! When you reach the end of your digital transformation project, it helps you measure success!

CONCLUSION

My FRAMEWORK for success has helped digitally transform several businesses across Australia. If you want to avoid falling behind competitors, my digital transformation FRAMEWORK can help you rethink how you are doing businesses in the digital era.

Did you find this FRAMEWORK helpful? Discover more on how to put this FRAMEWORK into action in my latest book on THINK DIGITAL.

The step by step approach offered here will help your business gear up for the digital future, closely examine the digital competition in your industry, and help you craft a strategy that’s best suited for your business.

The book provides a great opportunity to business owners, marketers and other stakeholders to learn through case studies from leading global brands and map out their digital journey with the my comprehensive digital transformation checklist for success.

The book is available in eBook, Kindle eBook version as well as Paperback on Amazon.